Aug. 31, 2011
ALBANY, N.Y. No. 20 Stanford received goals from three different players on Wednesday afternoon, edging No. 17 Albany 3-2 in the third game of an eight-day East Coast road swing to open the year.
Wednesday's victory might have come in the most important game of the extended road trip, considering how close the squads currently stand in the national rankings. Albany, the defending America East Conference champions and top-20 fixture, dropped to 1-1 overall.
Meanwhile, Stanford moved to 2-1 and more importantly, bounced back in strong fashion after suffering a hard-fought 4-2 loss at No. 4 Connecticut two days earlier.
Albany held edges in shots (12-11) and penalty corners (9-3), but Stanford's opportunistic play produced three goals.
Becky Dru scored her fifth goal of the year in the fourth minute of the game, converting on a penalty corner with assists from Hope Burke and Stephanie Byrne.
Albany's Corrine McConville tied the game at 1-1 with 21:49 on the clock following a penalty corner.
Less than two minutes later, Burke bounced a shot off the post but alertly collected her own rebound and scored to give Stanford a 2-1 lead.
Alex McCawley extended the Cardinal's lead to 3-1 in the 46th minute, scoring unassisted just inside the arc with a shot to the left side of the cage.
Albany received a second goal from McConville in the 53rd minute to round out the scoring.
McCawley led Stanford with four shots while Courtney Haldeman chipped in with three.
Ale Moss played well in goal, earning the win while making six saves.
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NOTES: Stanford closes out its four-game East Coast road swing on Saturday, Sept. 3, against Yale at 8 a.m. PT ... Becky Dru has scored five goals in three games. Nine of her 16 shots have been on goal ... Stanford has attempted six fewer penalty corners (14-8) than its opponents in the first half of games. Over the final 35 minutes, the Cardinal owns a 13-7 edge ... Stanford has dished out 10 assists on nine goals.